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Residential moorings.


AnB

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Hey Mike the Boilerman. I’m going to be doing a little trip along the canal in my camper van next week. Could I visit and pick your brains? 

7 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

Absolutely wrong.  It is NOT very difficult to do locks solo. I do it and I'm 70 years old.

Where are you? This is definitely beginning to sound more positive. 

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11 minutes ago, AnB said:

Yes, online sounds great but what about water etc? Are there services near by? By the way that is way way cheaper than living in a house. And yes, I can certainly keep my head down. Quiet life for me. 

I'm going to ask the one question that so far hasn't been asked; do you have any experience of being on a canal boat, let alone living on one?

Water is held in a tank on the boat and has to be filled from a water tap, that may be some distance away from your mooring.
What services are you expecting? Gas is in bottles that you will have to get to your boat. Toilets are either a large pump out tank that will need a trip to a boat yard to empty or a portapotty that you will need to take to a disposal point possibly every week. Heating fuel will be either gas, wood or coal that you will need to get to your boat.
Have you actually priced up how much a boat costs, from the licence to insurance to repairs?

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21 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

Absolutely wrong.  It is NOT very difficult to do locks solo. I do it and I'm 70 years old.

 

Not on the K&A I bet you don't!

I'm a fit and healthy male and I find some of them tax my strength to the very LIMIT.

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18 minutes ago, AnB said:

Hey Mike the Boilerman. I’m going to be doing a little trip along the canal in my camper van next week. Could I visit and pick your brains? 

Where are you? This is definitely beginning to sound more positive. 

 

Yes of course. When are you thinking of? 

Once you have a few posts to your name you can use the PM system to contact me to make arrangements. Happy to make you a cuppa and tell to all the reasons why you plan may or may not work!

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5 minutes ago, AnB said:

Yes, online sounds great but what about water etc? Are there services near by? By the way that is way way cheaper than living in a house. And yes, I can certainly keep my head down. Quiet life for me. 

Are you sure? Have you done enough research to allow you to make an informed decision?

Moorings - say £1000 to £15,000+ a year with the latter being for true residential but in some Thames marinas it could be £7000.

License - 50 ft boat about £700 a year and more if you want to get off the K&A to other CaRT waters

Batteries - as a newby allow one set a year or more until you get to grips with charging etc, say £400 to £500 for not quiet teh cheapest (4 or 5 battery bank) and its easy to destroy them in weeks at first.

Keeping batteries charged requires fuel so say 20 hours a week minimum at 1 litre per hour, that's  probably over £20 a wek but you will get hot water for that as well in most boats.

Solid fuel for winter warmth, say 2 bags a week for 20 weeks or more at about £10 a bag, £200 (you wont find sufficient "free" wood in most cases.

Insurance £140 a year for fully comp plus whatever extra for your possessions.

Regular blacking &  hull/anode inspection on a 50 ft boat say £600 ever two to three years unless you spend £1000s on zinc spraying and two pack system but it will still have to come out every 5  years or so for inspection.

Repainting - say £5000 or more  every 10 years or so.

Gas for Cooking - I use about three 19Kg cylinders a year but that includes  some heating BUT mine is not a livaboard boat. That is 3 x about £45 = £135 a year and may well be more.

Spare parts repairs and maintenance - I do my own but if you cant I could easily see it averaging £1500 a year or more.

Unless the boat is younger than 20 years (up to 30 for some companies) budget about £1000 every four or five years for a hull inspection & report unless you only insure third party (insurance is compulsory).

Boat Safety Inspection every four years say between £140 & £200.

Fuel for cruising????

When the CaRT water points are out of action I had to pay a marina in Newbury £5 just to fill with water.

Toilet pump outs @ £15 plus a pop unless you ensure you have a cassette type toilet. Say once a month so that a minimum of £180 a year.

And so the list goes on. Others may be able to give you the exact figure for their own livaboard boating.

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9 minutes ago, Mike on the Wey said:

I agree. I have experienced locks and swingbridges that I am physically unable to move on my own. 

 

However if I understand the OP correctly, they have no intention of crusing about much, so it's not really relavent. And as Tony points out, pairing up with the next boat along changes EVERYTHING.

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

Are you sure? Have you done enough research to allow you to make an informed decision?

Moorings - say £1000 to £15,000+ a year with the latter being for true residential but in some Thames marinas it could be £7000.

License - 50 ft boat about £700 a year and more if you want to get off the K&A to other CaRT waters

Batteries - as a newby allow one set a year or more until you get to grips with charging etc, say £400 to £500 for not quiet teh cheapest (4 or 5 battery bank) and its easy to destroy them in weeks at first.

Keeping batteries charged requires fuel so say 20 hours a week minimum at 1 litre per hour, that's  probably over £20 a wek but you will get hot water for that as well in most boats.

Solid fuel for winter warmth, say 2 bags a week for 20 weeks or more at about £10 a bag, £200 (you wont find sufficient "free" wood in most cases.

Insurance £140 a year for fully comp plus whatever extra for your possessions.

Regular blacking &  hull/anode inspection on a 50 ft boat say £600 ever two to three years unless you spend £1000s on zinc spraying and two pack system but it will still have to come out every 5  years or so for inspection.

Repainting - say £5000 or more  every 10 years or so.

Gas for Cooking - I use about three 19Kg cylinders a year but that includes  some heating BUT mine is not a livaboard boat. That is 3 x about £45 = £135 a year and may well be more.

Spare parts repairs and maintenance - I do my own but if you cant I could easily see it averaging £1500 a year or more.

Unless the boat is younger than 20 years (up to 30 for some companies) budget about £1000 every four or five years for a hull inspection & report unless you only insure third party (insurance is compulsory).

Boat Safety Inspection every four years say between £140 & £200.

Fuel for cruising????

When the CaRT water points are out of action I had to pay a marina in Newbury £5 just to fill with water.

Toilet pump outs @ £15 plus a pop unless you ensure you have a cassette type toilet. Say once a month so that a minimum of £180 a year.

And so the list goes on. Others may be able to give you the exact figure for their own livaboard boating.

Thanks that’s really good to know. Still sounds viable. 

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

Tempted to say "on the K&A?

I reckon the K&A locks are the hardest on the system and would not willingly do them on my own. However as long as the OP takes his time or pars up with another boat (assuming he is not buying a fat boat) then perfectly doable single handed.

Mmm, I’d say they’re not the most difficult. Most are odd and unpredictable or a little peculiar but are easy enough single handed if you take your time and think them through.  An enjoyable challenge. They are mostly in lovely countryside with beautiful surroundings.

The turf locks are ace. 

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2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Not on the K&A I bet you don't!

I'm a fit and healthy male and I find some of them tax my strength to the very LIMIT.

Oops. A slight over-generalisation on my part! :blush: I'll give the K & A a try in a couple of year's time (if I'm not pushing up daisies by then). 

A slight aside: Can you point me at an example nasty K & A lock near Newbury as I will be driving down there in the next few weeks and I'd like to have a look.

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11 hours ago, system 4-50 said:

Oops. A slight over-generalisation on my part! :blush: I'll give the K & A a try in a couple of year's time (if I'm not pushing up daisies by then). 

A slight aside: Can you point me at an example nasty K & A lock near Newbury as I will be driving down there in the next few weeks and I'd like to have a look.

 

Yes. Try opening the top gates at Church Lock, Great Bedwyn when it's full. Now they've repaired it I can just about manage to open it alone. But only just, using peak effort.

Before they repaired it, the lock settled at 4" level difference and needed three strong blokes to force it open!

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16 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

A further 60 boaters had taken up winter moorings.
33 additional boats had been sighted both within and outside of the plan area. Of these, none had received pre enforcement letters and none are now in the enforcement process.
 14 boaters have received pre enforcement letters (pre CC1)
 10 have received first enforcement letters (CC1)
 13 received second stage enforcement letters (CC2)
 16 received third stage enforcement letters (CC3)

On the rather confusing figures as presented, that is a pretty good result for CaRT. Better than 50% of ‘non-compliant’ boaters prepared to pay out the protection money needed to keep them out of enforcement while staying put on the towpath.

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18 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Yes. Try opening the top gates at Church Lock, Great Bedwyn when it's full. Now they've repaired it I can just about manage to open it alone. But only just, using peak effort.

Before they repaired it, the lock settled at 4" level difference and needed three strong blokes to force it open!

And Fobney. The gates are heavy and it seems to take forever to make a lower level.  Add to that its a huge lock (not by Northern standards).

Turf sides lock(s) that are in my view verging on the dangerous for single handers, all too easy to slip off the gunwale while you are trying to get ashore to secure the boat and deal with the lock.

Then there are the geared paddles that are supposed to make things easier but wear you out by the constant turning AND they need winding down - even in an emergency. Oh and all the "leave lock empty" signs above Newbury. It all goes together to make locking a far from pleasurable experience as far as I am concerned

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10 hours ago, Laurie.Booth said:

And best left alone.

 

10 hours ago, Laurie.Booth said:

And best left alone.

Why?

16 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Yes of course. When are you thinking of? 

Once you have a few posts to your name you can use the PM system to contact me to make arrangements. Happy to make you a cuppa and tell to all the reasons why you plan may or may not work!

Great.

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

And Fobney. The gates are heavy and it seems to take forever to make a lower level.  Add to that its a huge lock (not by Northern standards).

Turf sides lock(s) that are in my view verging on the dangerous for single handers, all too easy to slip off the gunwale while you are trying to get ashore to secure the boat and deal with the lock.

Then there are the geared paddles that are supposed to make things easier but wear you out by the constant turning AND they need winding down - even in an emergency. Oh and all the "leave lock empty" signs above Newbury. It all goes together to make locking a far from pleasurable experience as far as I am concerned

Generally these difficult locks are spread out with a length of pound between them long enough to get the breath back and recover. 

Yep, winding the hydraulic paddles back down is a pain. But so is rolling a fag in the rain. 

The locks that join the canal to the Kennet I found the trickiest but I equally found them exciting  

The Northern canals I’m finding harder than the K & A. There’re more heavy locks, and they’re much closer together. Plus lots and lots of swing bridges. 

The stunning scenery up North makes it worth the effort, just as the beauty of the K & A makes it worth it. I wouldn’t put anyone off from doing either.   

(I think there’s a conspiracy by boaters on the K&A to keep the canal to themselves by putting folk off and exaggerating the difficulty :)

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Winding hydraulic paddles down isn't just a pain, its sodding dangerous if your boat gets hung up in the lock, as happened to us many years ago. The stupid thing is that it would have been simple and cheap to add a quick-release bypass valve to the hydraulics to let the paddles drop quickly and smoothly in an emergency...

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